Post-Game Quotes from Game vs. Notre Dame

Quotes from Purdue players and coach.

September 26, 1998

Purdue Player Quotes

Purdue quarterback Drew Brees on the end of the game and the interceptions:
"We had the game won. All we had to do was get a first down or punt and let the defense do the rest. We had great confidence in our defense, but I just overthrew the receiver (Randall Lane). It was a bad decision on my part, but I knew that could make that throw. I just threw it high. I made a mistake. Next time I have to throw it on the numbers."

Brees describing the play call when Driver intercepted the ball:
"It was a sprint left play where we had one receiver on the side, one on the hash and one in the middle. My first option wasn't there (the side) and I saw Lane open in the middle with not many guys around him. I just overthrew him. I did think about running, but knowing I was more than 15 yards out (from the first down marker), I felt I needed to throw. If we get the first down, we can run out the clock and win the game."

Brees on the game in general:
"Although we didn't get the victory, there were a lot of good things today. We played well enough to win. We are a better team after this game. Now we open the Big 10 season next week against Minnesota and we have to be ready."

Purdue kicker Travis Dorsch on his 47-yard field goal in the fourth quarter:
"It was fun to have the opportunity to kick that. The offense did a great job getting us in position for me to kick the ball. We did a great job snapping and holding the ball and those are two key components in a kicker's success. You also have to get yourself mentally ready to kick."

Dorsch on being a true freshman and kicking at Notre Dame Stadium:
"It is every kicker's dream to play in this stadium and have the opportunity to win the game. Unfortunately, today things didn't fall into place for us. We need to regroup and get ready for next week."

Purdue defensive end Roosevelt Colvin on the defense :
"We knew we had to play a 60-minute game and thought we had done that. The defense broke down and we let them get into the endzone at the end. We (the defense) played well all day, but we didn't make the plays when we needed and do a good enough job in the end to win. "

Head Coach Joe Tiller

On Quarterback Drew Brees in the final minutes of the game: "We had to find a way to make plays, and that put a lot of pressure on him. Anytime you throw the ball over the middle, there's a 50-50 chance that they can intercept the ball."

On Purdue's game plan against the Irish: "We wanted to get them out of rhythm. We wanted to change the tempo of the game. That's something we've done in the past, and that's something we'll do again in the future."

On Quarterback Drew Brees's overall performance: "It's a learning experience for him. It's hard to fault this guy. Something I think he did real well was throwing on the run. We like what this guy's doing and look forward to what he'll do for us later."

On what Purdue will learn from the loss: "I view this game as another step in the learning process. It's another step in a long, long season. The more opportunity you have to play in games like this, the more experience we gain to use in future situations."